• A Patient
• Someone acting on behalf of the patient with their written consent
• Anyone affected by the actions of an NHS body

• Complaints about privately funded healthcare
• A matter that has already been investigated
• Matters relating to the Freedom of Information Act or the Data Protection Act
• A matter that may compromise any legal proceedings or police investigation
• A complaint made by a health organisation about another health organisation
• Complaints about employment or contractual issues with the NHS

• Your name, address, e-mail (if possible) and telephone number
• The full name, address, e-mail (if possible) and telephone number of the patient concerned
• If you are not the patient, written permission from the patient for you to take up the complaint on their behalf (a signature on the letter is acceptable)
• A summary of what happened with the dates if possible
• A list of questions that you would like answered
• What you want to happen as a result of your complaint
• Permission for us to copy the complaint to the people who need to take part in the investigation

We will investigate your complaint as quickly and effectively as possible. We will acknowledge receipt of your response within three working days of receiving your complaint. We will keep you informed about the process of our investigation. When we have completed our investigation we will let you know our findings and any improvements that have already been made or will be made as a result of your complaint.

We hope that we can resolve your complaint at this stage. If you are not satisfied, contact us and we will discuss with you what else we might be able to do. If you continue to be unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, you can ask the Health Service Ombudsman to review your complaint.

seAP (Support, Empower, Advocate, Promote) is an independent charity that specialises in the provision of advocacy and related services. One service they is IHCA (Independent Health Complaints Advocacy). IHCA will provide you with a Self Help Information Pack to help you make a complaint about your care or treatment using the NHS Complaints Procedure. You can choose to make your complaint with, or without, the support of an advocate. Your decision may depend on how confident you feel about starting the complaints process and the complexity of your case.

You can contact IHCA at the address below:

seAp Hastings
PO Box 375
Hastings
East Sussex
TN34 9HU

Telephone: 0330 440 9000
E-mail: info@seap.org.uk
Website: http://www.seap.org.uk/